To: Members of the Public Art Commission
From: Maia Yates, Staff Liaison
Title
2024-2025 Douglas County Art Encounters
Body
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Executive Summary
Douglas County Art Encounters is regional partnership that coordinates year-long outdoor exhibits showcasing a variety of sculptures in highly visible areas of Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Parker and Roxborough. The program is managed through the County’s Public Art Advisory Committee with participating municipalities and the Douglas County Library.
Castle Rock has participated in Art Encounters for over a decade and typically selects anywhere from four to seven sculptures to feature each year. Sculptures are installed in the spring, and the countywide program is launched with a news release mid-summer.
Participating artists receive a $1,000 stipend and the program also hosts a People’s Choice Award and a Kid’s Choice Award, where winning artists can receive an additional $1,000.
The Public Art Commission has also elected to use Otocast for the past three, which provides a free mobile app to the public to hear the story of the artwork from the artists themselves. The app also provides users with a map and navigation to each of the sculptures.
Sculptures have been featured at a variety of locations throughout Castle Rock including:
• The Miller Activity Complex (has designated pedestal),
• Bison Park,
• East Plum Creek Trail at Meadows Parkway,
• Butterfield Crossing Park (has designated pedestal),
• Metzler Ranch Community Park,
• Castle Rock Museum,
• Triangle Park,
• Festival Park (has designated pedestal),
• Third and Perry intersection roundabout,
• Gilbert and Plum Creek intersection roundabout (has designated pedestal),
• and Mitchell Gulch Park.
This year’s call to obtain sculpture submissions was posted to ArtCall.org and Café. The appointed Town representative, Julissa Morris, will attend a selection meeting with staff and participating jurisdictions at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 10. Once selections are made, staff will coordinate contract and installation details.
The purpose of this agenda item is to rank the submissions for the selection meeting. Exact installation locations will be determined once selections are final.
Attachments
Attachment A - ArtCall.org Submissions
Attachment B - Café Submissions
Attachment C - Justin Deister Alternates
Attachment D - Additional Sculpture